Researchers have shown that when doping a semiconductor to alter its electrical properties, equally important as the amount of dopant is how the dopant is distributed on the surface and throughout the material.

A new Hubble picture is the sharpest ever image of the core of spiral galaxy Messier 61. Taken using the High Resolution Channel of Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, the central part of the galaxy is shown in striking detail.

Led by engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and supported by Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., ALHAT technology will provide planetary landers similar to Morpheus the ability to precisely and safely land on rugged surfaces by detecting dangerous hazards such as rocks, holes and slopes.

In the movies, humans often fear invaders from Mars. These days, scientists are more concerned about invaders to Mars, in the form of micro-organisms from Earth. Three recent scientific papers examined the risks of interplanetary exchange of organisms using research from the International Space Station.

The periodic table of the elements is to get crowded towards its heaviest members. Evidence for the artificial creation of element 117 has recently been obtained at an accelerator laboratory located in Germany.

The research groups have clarified how the atom structure of bacterial red light photosensors changes when sensing light. The research reveals structural changes in phytochrome protein when illuminated. The function of few biological photosensors are already utilised in other fields of science, especially in neurosciences.

The speed of video game processors are being used to promote research that is aimed at improving patient care, a new study says. In recent years, video game processors, known as graphic processing units, or GPUs, have become massively powerful as game makers support increasingly elaborate video graphics with rapid-fire processing. Now medical researchers are looking to these GPUs for inspiration. One practical application is reducing the time required to calculate the radiation dose delivered to a tumor during proton radiotherapy, for example. The faster video processors can reduce the time of the most complex calculation method from 70 hours to just 10 seconds.

The smallest heart pacemaker available is about the size of a vitamin pill, and now another American hospital is about to test this emerging technology. "With this investigational device, the battery, the pacing electrodes, everything is in a little piece of metal sitting inside the heart. We believe that will eliminate a lot of risk for infection and complications," said a cardiologist and principal investigator of the trial.

Many privacy discussions follow a similar pattern, and involve the same kinds of arguments. It's commonplace to hear that privacy is dead, people -- especially kids -- don't care about privacy, people with nothing to hide have nothing to fear, and privacy is bad for business. "These claims are common, but they're myths," says a privacy law expert.

We may soon be able to make easy and early diagnoses of prostate cancer by smell. Investigators have established that a novel noninvasive technique can detect prostate cancer using an electronic nose. In a proof of principle study, the eNose successfully discriminated between prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by "sniffing" urine headspace (the space directly above the urine sample). Results using the eNose are comparable to testing prostate specific antigen (PSA).

Oil and gas development activities, including underground disposal of wastewater and hydraulic fracturing, may induce earthquakes by changing the state of stress on existing faults to the point of failure. Earthquakes from wastewater disposal may be triggered at tens of kilometers from the wellbore, which is a greater range than previously thought, according to research.

Older adults' fears that companion robots will negatively affect young people may create design challenges for developers hoping to build robots for older users, according to researchers. Companion robots provide emotional support for users and interact with them as they, for example, play a game, or watch a movie. Older adults reported in a study that while they were not likely to become physically and emotionally dependent on robots, they worried that young people might become too dependent on them.

If you have often imagined yourself piloting your X-Wing fighter on an attack run on the Death Star, you'll be reassured that University of Leicester students have demonstrated that your shields could take whatever the Imperial fleet can throw at you.

The robust defenses that yeast cells have evolved to protect themselves from environmental threats hold lessons that can be used to design computer networks and analyze how secure they are, say computer scientists.